Published: Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 08:30 PM.

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But South Point got another chance, and the fact that Williams made it happen surprised nobody.

“He had saved us the whole year, and we assumed he’d be able to pull something out of the hat,” said Rector, now a dentist in West Jefferson.

South Point didn’t have any more heartstoppers the rest of the way. The Red Raiders defeated Tuscola 29-7 in the next round, then held on for a 28-20 win against Hibriten before crushing Ahoskie 34-13 in the 3A state championship game.

South Point finished 14-0 that season after claiming its second state championship and as a N.C. High School Athletic Association member. The Red Raiders had previously shared the Western North Carolina High School Activities Association title in 1971.

The Red Raiders would rather forget the school’s other meeting with Statesville. In 1984, South Point traveled to Statesville in the first round of the playoffs and saw its 10-0 record come to an end with a 27-7 loss.

So Friday will mark the third meeting between South Point and Statesville, and South Point has entered with an undefeated record every time. The game sets up on paper to be a competitive one as South Point (12-0) was ranked second in the final Associated Press 3A state poll while Statesville (12-1) was fourth.

Williams, Rector and Biggerstaff still follow South Point closely and are excited about the playoff run. Biggerstaff, who lives just around the corner from Lineberger Stadium, has reserved seats for home games, stays in touch with the current coaching staff and has even watched film on Statesville. Biggerstaff is thrilled to see the current South Point team playing so well after graduating 27 seniors from last year’s roster.

The 1979 South Point team had a play called “tight-end throwback” that it had been saving for just the right time.

With its undefeated season in jeopardy in the first round of the playoffs, the Red Raiders found the right time.

Less than four minutes showed on the clock against Statesville when quarterback Jeff Williams sprinted to the right, drew the defense his direction, then threw across the field to a wide-open Tim Rector on the left side for a 41-yard scoring play and the Red Raiders’ only touchdown of the night. Williams then ran in the two-point conversion to give South Point an 8-7 home win that proved to be its toughest game in the playoffs as the Red Raiders went on to win the state championship.

As South Point prepares to face Statesville for the third time in the playoffs Friday, Red Raider players, coaches and fans can’t help but think back to that memorable 1979 Friday night in Belmont.

“It’s just all a blur, but I remember trying to find the goal line and I was kind of stumbling a little bit,” Rector said of South Point’s only touchdown that night. “I distinctly remember thinking, ‘Is that the five or the goal line?’”

Fortunately for South Point, Rector didn’t dive too soon. Rector, a senior tight end, initially blocked on the play, then released and found himself wide open.

“I think we ran that play once the entire season,” Williams recalled Thursday. “That’s all I can remember running it, and it worked like a charm.”

The scoring play came with 3:53 showing on the clock, but South Point still trailed 7-6. Even though the Red Raiders had a good kicker in Tim Parrish, they opted to go for the two-point conversion.

“We wanted to win,” head coach Jim Biggerstaff said. “We weren’t satisfied for a tie. We didn’t even hesitate about going for two. We felt like we could make it and we wanted to go on in the playoffs, so we took a chance.”

The gamble paid off as Williams faked the handoff to fullback Perry Fewell (now the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants) and took the option keeper to the left.

“They had eight people tackle Perry, and I walked into the end zone, so it worked pretty good,” Williams recalled. “I don’t even think I got touched.”

Moments later, Williams ended the game when he intercepted Statesville before the Greyhounds could reach midfield.

It didn’t look good for South Point most of the night. Statesville had led 7-0 almost the entire game after scoring on a 37-yard run in the first quarter. Williams, a senior two-way standout, said the Greyhounds might not have scored that touchdown had he tried to tackle the runner rather than trying to strip the ball.

“I remember thinking that it looked like we were going to lose,” Rector said. “The clock just started ticking and then it got down to about six or seven minutes and David McKinney blocked a punt and I thought, ‘Here we go.’ We finally got our break and then we didn’t score.”

But South Point got another chance, and the fact that Williams made it happen surprised nobody.

“He had saved us the whole year, and we assumed he’d be able to pull something out of the hat,” said Rector, now a dentist in West Jefferson.

South Point didn’t have any more heartstoppers the rest of the way. The Red Raiders defeated Tuscola 29-7 in the next round, then held on for a 28-20 win against Hibriten before crushing Ahoskie 34-13 in the 3A state championship game.

South Point finished 14-0 that season after claiming its second state championship and as a N.C. High School Athletic Association member. The Red Raiders had previously shared the Western North Carolina High School Activities Association title in 1971.

The Red Raiders would rather forget the school’s other meeting with Statesville. In 1984, South Point traveled to Statesville in the first round of the playoffs and saw its 10-0 record come to an end with a 27-7 loss.

So Friday will mark the third meeting between South Point and Statesville, and South Point has entered with an undefeated record every time. The game sets up on paper to be a competitive one as South Point (12-0) was ranked second in the final Associated Press 3A state poll while Statesville (12-1) was fourth.

Williams, Rector and Biggerstaff still follow South Point closely and are excited about the playoff run. Biggerstaff, who lives just around the corner from Lineberger Stadium, has reserved seats for home games, stays in touch with the current coaching staff and has even watched film on Statesville. Biggerstaff is thrilled to see the current South Point team playing so well after graduating 27 seniors from last year’s roster.

“They’ve come a long way. They were real, real young to begin with,” Biggerstaff said. “I attribute a lot of our success always to one of the finest coaching staffs in the state of North Carolina. I’ll put our coaching staff up against anybody.”

And he’d love to see another memorable playoff victory against Statesville that leads to a state title.